Page 32 of Beauty

Max rolls his cool blue eyes. “I doubt that. Those horseslove me. And you better love me, too. I could call the guards down on yournasty ass.”

The phooka tosses his head. “I do not fear this, sidhe.I know far too much. Besides, you can grumble all you like, but you would notturn on an ally.”

Max leans in. “No, I wouldn’t, but I could move your stallaway from that pretty mare you have those nasty eyes on.”

The phooka turns on him. “Don’t you dare. Do you know howlong it’s taken me to convince her to let me close? I’m so close, Max. Have youseen her ass? It’s the hottest filly ass in the whole province.”

“Remember that.” Max focuses his attention my way. “You wantto explain why we should trust you?”

I shrug. “I don’t care if you trust me or not.”

Max huffs, his face betraying a bitterness. “Well, that’spretty much what I would expect from an Unseelie prince.”

The sidhe walks off after nodding to his brotherand wife.

Rye grips his wife’s hand. “But you’re going to help, right?I thought Roan said the Unseelie are going to back the true kings.”

“My father is sending a force in. I am merely here to get mybondmate and get out. She is too important to risk.” He looks pointedly atRachel Harper. “I would certainly assume that you’re not going to risk yourbondmate.”

Rye’s face gets red, his jaw tense, but the words that comeout of his mouth are controlled. “My bondmate, my brother, my children, my townhave all been at risk for thirteen years. I’ve been forced to raise my childrenunder the tyrant’s reign, wondering every bloody day if Torin isn’t going tocome for one of them. My oldest daughter, Paige, has great skill with magic,and I can’t risk anyone outside of this community knowing it because Torinwould take her and, if he couldn’t warp her, he would hang her from the palacewalls. So don’t pretend that you know what it has been like for me. I’m sorry,Rachel. I thought I could do this. I’ll be back.”

Rye stalks off after his brother.

“Please forgive him. The last several years have been hard,”Rachel says, smoothing back her strawberry-blonde hair. “At first, when KingSeamus fell, we all held out hope that the Unseelie would come and save us.Many of us believed this would be the act that reunited our kingdoms.”

I assumed the very idea would horrify the Seelie. “I don’tthink even King Seamus wanted that.”

Rachel shrugs. “Seamus was a good king, but he was a royal.I have yet to meet a true royal who understands the plight of even the middleclass. The best we can hope for is a king who has just laws and the means inplace to oust sheriffs and mayors who take advantage. Torin simply takeswithout caring how it affects us. And he’s systematically killing everycreature who isn’t sidhe.”

“Then you’re safe.” I mean it to be somewhat comforting, butthe minute the words come out of my mouth, a vision of Duffy being slaughteredbecause he isn’t sidhe assaults my brain. I open my mouth to call thewords back, but Rachel Harper rounds on me, her pretty face red with anger.

“Safe? So I should allow the tyrant king to slaughter myneighbors, my sweet kin, because he’s not coming for me? Let me tell yousomething, Your Highness. If you believe that he will be satisfied with killingonly those who don’t look like he does, you’re a naïve idiot. When the browniesand goblins and trolls and pixies are gone, he will come for the rest of us. Iwill not sit idly by and pray to Danu that he not darken my door. I will notallow him to kill and rape and do as he pleases because he was strong enough towrest the crown from his brother’s head. I will fight. I will fight for mychildren. So you take your perfect bondmate and run back to the Unseelie plane.We do not need you here.”

She begins to walk away, and I realize how terribly I’mhandling my allies. “Mrs. Harper.”

She doesn’t turn. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“I apologize if I offended. I am not the diplomatic half.”I’m not sure what else to say. “I don’t even know much about the situationhere. It didn’t seem to be an Unseelie problem.”

She finally turns to me, tears in her eyes. “We’re living,breathing beings, Your Highness. Call us what you will—Seelie, Unseelie,vampire. It matters not. We want the same things you do. We want our mates andour children to be happy. We want our dreams to come true. We’re dying. How isthat not everyone’s problem?”

She sighs and walks away.

I watch her, wishing I knew what to say, what to do. It wassupposed to be simple. Come to the Seelie plane. Get my mate. Get out. Let thewar happen or not.

Two hours here and I know I’ll have to make decisions I’mnot ready to make.

I feel my fists clench. My father did me a grave disservice.Since that horrible day when Bron died and Shim’s power surged, burning awayhalf of my face, our father treated us both like we’re fragile beings, not tobe tormented with minor things like learning how to run the kingdom we’ll oneday inherit. My father lost Gillian, saw one of his heirs marred for life, andthe other go into a fugue state. It’s reasonable that he is protective, but Inow lack the tools I need. I know nothing because my father doesn’t want to taxmy frail system.

Dante steps out, stretching his long limbs. He nods my way.“Almost time to go.”

There are still hours to go before we can begin. I don’targue with the vampire though. Dellacourt left behind a whole rich life tofollow his cousins. Perhaps it’s time to toss aside my preconceptions and startasking questions.

Perhaps it’s time to become a king no matter what my fatherthinks.

“Could you tell me about the situation here?”

Dellacourt’s green eyes widen slightly. “Are you sure? Youdidn’t seem at all interested before.”